Monthly Archives: April 2013

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CCXLVIX

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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We can say that is is ironic that those who claim to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God are, by the edicts of their doctrines, the furthest away from the realities which a man CAN ONLY perceive when he IS a disciple and this the Master tells us. He makes us to understand that the words ARE the same for the man whose focus us God as they are for the man whose focus IS still in the things of the world and the self, but that the revelation of Wisdom IS ONLY to those who do keep His words. This however is not entirely True and there IS mystery in this realization as well as there are glimpses of reality that can come to a man who has begun the process of Repentance as we understand it, that IS as that decision and choice to change the focus of his Life away from the self and onto the things of God. From a personal perspective, a perspective that we generally do not write about, we can sense and feel the growth of revelation as we continue on in our work of Transformation, much of this sense of revelation is not expressible; we can say that we KNOW a thing IS True but that we CAN NOT  express it in words, and, at the same time we can see that much of what we write IS revelation, is Wisdom from above, and ofttimes the words that we write had never crossed our minds before but yet they flow from our fingers as though we had studied them intently. There IS mystery here, mystery that we CAN NOT understand but which at the same time seems to meet the criteria of the Apostle James words on that Wisdom from above. James tells us:

• “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work But the wisdom that is from above is first pure , then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace” (James 3:13-18).

In these words from the apostle we find the KEYS to understanding the source of what we sense, what we feel and what we think but it IS ONLY in the right discernment of the translated words that we can see the Truth and this we have discussed several times before. In addition we should remember and understand that the nature of these revelations are only to those who are disciples while there is some sense to those who have Truly Repented, who have made that Life decision and choice to change their focus from the things of the world to the things of God. And this Wisdom from above can come from many sources or rather it can be instigated by many sources; that is that it can be recognized from hearing or reading or seeing a thing which function is then ‘interpreted’ to the consciousness by the Soul, realized to use our word, and this IS how many can read or hear or see the same thing and have completely different impressions of what it IS. And at every step, we as aspirants, as men who have taken the choice and the decision to focus our Life upon the things of God, will realize in our own reflections how much there IS that we DO NOT  understand, for which we have NO revelation and can see at the same time the reality of the disciple who DOES.

James’ message should be seen in two ways, from the negative or what IS NOT that Wisdom from above and from the positive, what IS that Wisdom. We have written on both of these and most recently in In the Words of Jesus part 657 where we related James’ teaching to that of the Buddha and where we cite the sins of self-absorption, self-interest and self-devotion as major stumbling blocks to True spiritual Life. It is these ideas that we should see in James’ words: “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth” and our understanding of rightly discerned translation we take from Vincent who relates the words rendered as bitter envying to emulation in a bitter way, which is rendered in other bible versions as jealousy or jealous rivalry, but which we should understand as: The endeavor to equal or to excel another in qualities or actions; an assiduous striving to equal or excel another; rivalry ¹. Vincent also tells us about strife, that it is plainly a wrong translation, he says here that: Strife ( εριθείαν ) A wrong rendering, founded on the mistaken derivation from ε’ρις, strife……Thus it comes to be applied to those who serve in official positions for their own selfish interest, and who, to that end, promote party spirit and faction ⁴. We should try to see in these words from Webster’s on emulation and Vincent on strife that the idea of his argument IS the self, self interest, self-serving, self-absorption, self-devotion and even self-righteousness can fit into the general idea of James’ saying and can easily be seen as the opposites of what he tells us ARE the qualities of the Wisdom from above. We should note here also that he tells us here that “where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” and we should remember that our reality of sin and evil are ALL of the things that a man does in focus upon the world and not merely those gross offences that a man may commit. We should see here also our better understanding of these words which we developed while discussing the words of the Buddha on the fool and folly; that we should try to understand the reality of the biblical sense of sin and evil, that this IS the same as the Buddha’s sense of the fool and his folly. That the word folly is representative of the actions of the fool who IS the man that IS focused on the self and the self in the world and that the word evil can be so representative of the actions of the sinner in the world. Of course to understand this properly we must try to see sin and evil away from the context of their common use and away from doctrine which in many ways has dictated the common use. When we can see sin and evil as the fool and his folly and understand that they are simply looking away from the Truth of God and at the self in the world, we can come to a better understanding of so much of the words of the Master and His apostles.

In this Light we can look again at the words of the Apostle Paul and at what IS and what IS NOT the fruit of the Spirit:

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:19-24).

We should see that the works of the flesh are the actions of the man of and for the self in the world, this IS sin from Paul’s perspective and his list includes a combination of those gross offences as well as the minor, the sin of focus upon the things of the world. We should note here that emulation and strife ARE among these sins which should help us to understand the relationship that we have taken to use regarding these two writings. We should note as well the relationship between what IS the fruit of the Spirit and what IS the Wisdom from above. So in the above we have our own measurement of what is the revelation of a mystery, our own understanding of what IS that Wisdom from above and what IS the fruit of the Spirit which we otherwise KNOW as the Love and the Power of the Soul in one’s Life, Love and Power which by degree enters into the consciousness of the man in the world and grows as he continually attends to the things of God over the things of the self in the world.

And in regard to discipleship, while we have always and continue to strive toward that goal; we count ourselves ONLY as aspirants, as those who by degree have seen the Light of the Soul and the Love and the Power that it brings into one’s consciousness and it is this Love and this Power, this Light, that we try to put to words and express in these essays. And it is here that we find ourselves in that difficult position where we buck against established doctrine and the beliefs of many in the world today and while we try to do so without disparaging any, we KNOW that this IS an impossible task. We KNOW at the same time that in using the same scriptures, the same words of the Master and His apostles, that we do have a convincing argument for those who are not so indoctrinated that they can no longer see past their doctrines and it is again ironic that those who are such will use the same words of scripture against what we say albeit from a doctrinal perspective In this dynamic we can find the reality of another version of what theme we began with in the last post regarding mystery; the Master tells us “And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand” (Luke 8:10). Of course we KNOW that He is speaking to disciples and we KNOW from our last posts the very definition of the disciple according to the Master; we KNOW as well that the Master uses this idea ‘not seeing and not hearing’ often in regard to seeing and hearing only what is carnally apparent. Now it IS NOT our objective to try to change the mind of any who are so indoctrinated; it IS our objective however to offer to the seeker, to the man who CAN NOT find satisfaction in the pronouncements of the doctrines of the world, an alternative view and one that is founded in the same source text but from the perspective of the True man, the Soul, and not the carnal man in the world who is yet entombed by the illusion and the glamour from which we are trying to escape.

Today’s Verse of the Day from biblegateway.com: “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:15) brought us to look at these words in their context and then to a realization that in these words is a part of our current message and in this we should see the effect of what we say above, that this Wisdom from above can come from many sources or rather it can be instigated by many sources; that is that it can be recognized by hearing or reading or seeing a thing which function is then ‘interpreted’ to the consciousness by the Soul, realized to use our word. Here, the saying we read took us to the surrounding verses and the idea, the Wisdom if you will, that these words of Paul can help us to make our point. Paul tells us that:

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as  other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Ephesians 4:13-18).

Paul’s language, or we should say our understanding of the translation of Paul’s language, leaves us at times wondering what it is that he is Truly saying and the first verse above is one of these times. If we read this in our Light we would see the idea of singularity, of a unity in the Christian approach to Christ and a singularity of the knowledge of Him. Of course we do not have this in the world today and the reference here should be made from the second verse which clarifies the lack of singularity as the being “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine“. The logical problem here is that this part IS rather clear but it is thought by many that this pertains to that time, to Paul’s day, that the false doctrines are those of others. In our clear view however this is not so, there is no singularity yet today and these hundreds upon hundreds of varying doctrines based on thousands of differing denominations and sects ARE the affliction of what we call the Christian Church and the animosity among some is a bane upon the intended and necessary unity of ALL. Here again we pin the problem on the illusion and the glamour of Life in this world and this glamour especially afflicts the ‘sacredness’ of a man’s religious view. It IS in this glamour and this illusion that men CAN NOT  see clearly and it IS here that he will ‘take up arms’ to defend his sometimes indefensible positions. It seems at times to be easier to reject and argue against opposing views, even in the small and unimportant issues of doctrine, than it is to compromise and to change or accept a well founded opposing view. And this IS the state of Christianity today; the Church has not yet “come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God”. At the same time, we should see that the accomplishment of this would be that needed step “unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” and we should see these terms as complimenting each other which makes this idea of perfect that same principal that the Master tells us of saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). It IS in this perfection that one can come “unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” which is our goal and our destiny. The common understanding of this word as mature is perhaps a part of the overall nature of the teachings as we have been discussing as this protects the mystery of the Truth. While this idea of mature may be within the scope of the Greek word, the understanding of this as mature IS likely found in the following verse which speaks of acting like children, “being tossed to and fro“, but this phrase could stand alone without relationship to being perfect.

However it IS easier to be mature than it IS to be perfect and it has been our premise that in the vanity, in the illusion and the glamour of Life in form, that the easier and the more convenient interpretations have always been chosen by the race of men over the difficult and that men have convinced themselves that their choice is True. For us it IS in the reality of the Truth of His words, regardless of the difficulty, that we MUST STAND and that IT IS in this reality that one can Truly Repent.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

Staying on the theme of Love we repeat again the sayings of the Apostle Paul that put this Love into perspective.

But earnestly desire the best gifts.

And yet I show you a more excellent way.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,

I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy,

and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,

and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains,

but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

and though I give my body to be burned,

but have not love, it profits me nothing.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 12:31, 13:1-13

(New King James Version)

Regardless of our daily theme, the underlying theme of our posts and of this entire blog is Love. In these words from Paul we should be able to see the overriding importance of Love in the Life of each of us. This is a common theme throughout the gospels and the other writings of the apostles and a theme that is not nearly understood. In our theme today regarding Paul’s writings to the Romans and in the previous discussions on them we seek to impart the better understanding of the reality of Life, the Life of the True man as the Christ Within, the Soul, as it is from this perspective that we can gain that revelation of Truth and, as Paul says above, be free from the condemnation and the vanity of Life in form, free from the illusion and the glamour. We repeat here what we said about these verses in a prior post:

Today’s Quote of the Day from the Apostle Paul is his testimony to the power of Love. After speaking at length about the gifts of the Spirit that one should desire in order to be of service to the Lord, he says plainly that Love is a more excellent way. Love in the context of these verses is not the sentimental or affectionate kind that we ordinarily think of but rather benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. This defining of Love is covered in some depth in a previous post; In the Words of Jesus part 47.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913

• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888